High School Reform

Governor’s Commission on College and Career Success: Final Report
Pennsylvania Governor’s Commission, December 2006

Gaining Traction, Gaining Ground: How Some High Schools Accelerate Learning for Struggling Students
The Education Trust, November 2005

The Power to Change: High Schools that Help All Students Achieve
The Education Trust, November 2005

Evaluation of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s High School Grants, 2001-2004
American Institutes for Research & SRI International, November 2005

Building a Portfolio of High Schools: A Strategic Investment Toolkit
Jobs for the Future, 2005

Rethinking High School: Five Profiles of Innovative Models for Student Success -
WestEd for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, 2005

Making Progress Toward Graduation: Evidence from the Talent Development High School Model
MDRC, May 2005

Improving High Schools: A Strategic Approach
Legislative Analyst’s Office, California Assembly, May 2005

A Call to Action: Transforming High School for All Youth
National High School Alliance, April 2005

Advancing High School Reform in the States: Policies and Programs
National Association of Secondary School Principals and KnowledgeWorks Foundation, 2005

An Action Agenda for Improving America’s High Schools
National Governors Association, February 2005

Getting It Done: Ten Steps to a State Action Agenda
National Governors Association, February 2005

Big Buildings, Small Schools: Using a Small Schools Reform Strategy for High School Reform
Jobs for the Future, 2004

Crisis at the Core: Preparing All Students for College and Work
Click here for the “Crisis at the Core” Executive Summary.
ACT, 2004

Redesigning High Schools to Prepare Students for the Future
Center for Evaluation and Education Policy, Winter 2004

New Traditions: Options for Rural High School Excellence
Southern Governors’ Association, September 2004

The Talent Development High School Model
Manpower Demonstration Research Corp., June 2004

Career Academies: Impacts on Labor Market Outcomes and Educational Attainment
Manpower Demonstration Research Corp., March 2004

Linking Career/Technical Studies to Broader High School Reform: What can school districts, states and the nation do to get more high schools to implement comprehensive high school reform?
Southern Regional Education Board, 2004

Raise Academic Standards and Get More Students to Complete High School: How 13 Georgia Schools Did It
Southern Regional Education Board, 2004

Rethinking High School: The Next Frontier for State Policymakers
The Aspen Institute, January 2003

A New Core Curriculum for All
The Education Trust, Thinking K-16, Winter 2003

From Large to Small: Strategies for Personalizing the High School
Jobs for the Future, October 2002

What the Research Shows: Breaking Ranks in Action
National Association of Secondary School Principals, 2002

The Progress of Education Reform: High School Curriculum
Education Commission of the States, August-September 2001

Closing the Achievement Gap: A High Schools That Work Design for Challenged Schools
Southern Regional Education Board

The 2000 High Schools That Work Assessment: Improving Urban High Schools
Southern Regional Education Board

High School Reform: Literature Review of What Works – 2002
Research and Development Center for the Advancement of Student Learning, Colorado State University, 2002

High Schools of the Millennium
American Youth Policy Forum, August 2000

Exit Exams

State High School Exit Exams: Students with Disabilities — Policy Brief 3
Center on Education Policy, March 2008

State High School Exit Exams: Patterns in Gaps in Pass Rates — Policy Brief 2
Center on Education Policy, February 2008

State High School Exit Exams: A Move Toward End-of-Course Exams — Policy Brief 1
Center on Education Policy, January 2008

State High School Exit Exams: Working to Raise Test Scores
Center on Education Policy, September 2007

State High School Exit Exams: A Challenging Year
Center on Education Policy, August 2006

States Try Harder, But Gap Persists: High School Exit Exams 2005
Center on Education Policy, August 2005

Multiple Measures Approaches to High School Graduation
The School Redesign Network at Stanford University, 2005

The Relationship of High School Graduation Exams to Graduation Rates and SAT Scores
By Gregory J. Marchant and Sharon E. Paulson, Ball State University. Published in the Education Policy Analysis Archives, January 2005

State High School Exit Exams: A Maturing Reform
Center on Education Policy, August 2004

Do Graduation Tests Measure Up? A Closer Look at State High School Exit Exams
Achieve, Inc., June 2004

Pay Now or Pay Later: The Hidden Costs of High School Exit Exams
Center for Education Policy, May 2004

Pushed Out or Pulled Up? Exit Exams and Dropout Rates in Public High Schools
Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, May 2004

Mixed Messages: What State High School Tests Communicate About Student Readiness for College
Standards for Success, 2003

State High School Exit Exams Put to the Test
Center on Education Policy, August 2003

Senior Year

A Profile of the American High School Senior in 2004: A First Look. Initial Results From the First Follow-up of the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002
National Center for Education Statistics, October 2005

Raising Our Sites: No High School Senior Left Behind
National Commission on the High School Senior Year,
October 2001

Youth at the Crossroads: Facing High School and Beyond
Prepared for the National Commission on the High School Senior Year by The Education Trust, Inc.

Overcoming the High School Senior Slump: New Education Policies
Institute for Educational Leadership and the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, May 2001

Graduation Rate/Dropouts

Numbers and Rates of Public High School Dropouts: School Year 2004–05
National Center for Education Statistics, December 2007

Career and Technical Education’s Role in Dropout Prevention and Recovery
Association for Career and Technical Education, 2007

The Progress of Education Reform 2007: Dropout Prevention
Education Commission of the States, July 2007

User’s Guide to Computing High School Graduation Rates, Volume 1: Review of Current and Proposed Graduation Indicators
National Center for Education Statistics, August 2006

User’s Guide to Computing High School Graduation Rates, Volume 2: Technical Evaluation of Proxy Graduation Indicators
National Center for Education Statistics, August 2006

Estimating Graduation and Dropout Rates with Longitudinal Data: A Case Study in the Pittsburgh Public Schools
RAND, July 2006

Diplomas Count: An Essential Guide to Graduation Policy and Rates
Editorial Projects in Education, June 2006

The Averaged Freshman Graduation Rate for Public High Schools From the Common Core of Data: School Years 2002–03 and 2003-04
National Center for Education Statistics, June 2006

Identifying Potential Dropouts: Key Lessons for Building an Early Warning Data System
Achieve, Inc., June 2006

Making Good on a Promise: What Policymakers Can Do to Improve the Educational Persistence of Dropouts
Jobs for the Future, April 2006

The Silent Epidemic: Perspectives of High School Dropouts
A report by Civic Enterprises in association with Peter D. Hart Research Associates for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, March 2006

The Averaged Freshman Graduation Rate for Public High Schools from the Common Core of Data: School Years 2001-02 and 2002-03
National Center for Education Statistics, November 2005

The Higher Drop-Out Rate of Foreign-Born Teens: The Role of Schooling Abroad
Pew Hispanic Center, November 2005

Graduation Counts: A Compact on State High School Graduation Data
National Governors Association, July 2005

Graduation Counts: A Report of the NGA Task Force on State High School Graduation Data
National Governors Association, July 2005

The Alternative Pathways Project: A Framework for Dropout Reduction and Recovery
The Alternative Pathways Project, June 2005

Graduation Gap Fact Sheet: Youth in Transition Series
Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children, June 2005

Getting Honest About Grad Rates: How States Play the Numbers and Students Lose
The Education Trust, June 2005

What Counts: Defining and Improving High School Graduation Rates
National Association of Secondary School Principals, 2005

The Effect of Residential School Choice on Public High School Graduation Rates
The Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, April 2005

Keeping Middle Grades Students on Track to Graduation
Power Point presentation by Robert Balfanz, Johns Hopkins University, and Liza Herzog, Philadelphia Education, March 2005

Public High School Graduation and College-Readiness Rates: 1991–2002
Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, February 2005

The Expectations Gap: A 50-State Review of High School Graduation Requirements
Achieve, Inc., 2004

National Institute of Statistical Sciences/Education Statistics Services Institute Task Force on Graduation, Completion, and Dropout Indicators
National Center for Education Statistics, November 2004

Educational Attainment of High School Dropouts 8 Years Later
National Center for Education Statistics, November 2004

The Dropout Crisis: Promising Approaches to Prevention and Recovery
Jobs for the Future, 2004

Multiple Measures Approaches to High School Graduation
School Redesign Network, April 2004

Losing Our Future: How Minority Youth Are Being Left Behind By the Graduation Rate Crisis
A paper jointly release by The Civil Rights Project at Harvard University, The Urban Institute, Advocates for Children of New York, and The Civil Society Institute, February 2004

15 Effective Strategies for Dropout Prevention
By Frank P. Schargel & Jay Smink in association with the National Dropout Prevention Center at Clemson University

Telling the Whole Truth (or Not) About High School Graduation
The Education Trust, December 2003

Knocking at the College Door: Projections of High School Graduates by State, Income, and Race/Ethnicity
Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education,
December 2003

High School Graduation Rates in the United States
Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, April 2002

Saved by an Education: A Successful Model for Dramatically Increasing High School Graduation Rates in Low Income Neighborhoods
Center for Community Change, May 2001

How Many Central City High Schools Have a Severe Dropout Problem, Where Are They Located, and Who Attends Them?
Summaries of Papers Presented at DROPOUTS IN AMERICA, Sponsored by Achieve, Inc. and The Civil Rights Project at Harvard University

Reports from the Pennsylvania Department of Education:

Public, Private and Nonprivate Schools High School Graduates 2002-03

Private and Nonpublic High Schools Graduate and Postsecondary Education Rates

Public High Schools High School Graduates and Postsecondary Education Rates

Public Secondary School Dropouts in Pennsylvania 2002-2003

Public Secondary School Dropout by School

Dual Enrollment

Accelerated Learning Opportunities: Moving the Needle on Access and Success – A Study of State and Institutional Policies and Practices
Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education, June 2006

Head Start on College: Dual Enrollment Strategies in New England 2004-2005
Jobs for the Future, April 2005

Add and Subtract: Dual Enrollment as a State Strategy to Increase Postsecondary Success for Underrepresented Students
Jobs for the Future, April 2005

Dual Credit and Exam-Based Courses in U.S. Public High Schools: 2002-03
National Center for Education Statistics, April 2005

Dual Enrollment of High School Students at Postsecondary Institutions: 2002-03
National Center for Education Statistics, April 2005

Dual Enrollment Programs: Easing the Transitions from High School to College
Community College Research Center, March 2003

Dual Enrollment: Accelerating the Transition to College
U.S. Department of Education

Other

2007 ACT National Profile Report
Act, 2007

The 2000 High School Transcript Study Tabulations: Comparative Data on Credits Earned and Demographics for 2000, 1998, 1994, 1990, 1987, and 1982 High School Graduates
National Center for Education Statistics, July 2007

Economic Outcomes of High School Completers and Noncompleters 8 Years Later
National Center for Education Statistics, October 2006

The College Ladder: Linking Secondary and Postsecondary Education for Success for All Students
American Youth Policy Forum, September 2006

Paying Double: Inadequate High Schools and Community College Remediation
Alliance for Excellent Education, August 2006

High School Reform and Work: Facing Labor Market Realities
Educational Testing Service, June 2006

Preparing PA Youth for Success in a 21st Century Economy
Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children, June 2006

Alignment of High School Graduation Requirements and State-Set College Admissions Requirements
Education Commission of the States, April 2006

Claiming Common Ground: State Policymaking for Improving College Readiness and Success
National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, March 2006

Closing the Expectations Gap 2006: An Annual 50 State Progress Report on the Alignment of High School Policies with the Demands of College and Work
Achieve, Inc., February 2006

The High Schools Hispanics Attend: Size and Other Key Characteristics
Pew Hispanic Center, November 2005

Life as a Teenager in Pennsylvania – The State of Youth Employment
Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children, August 2005

What We Can Learn from High School Students
High School Survey of Student Engagement, Indiana University School of Education, August 2005

Ready for the Real World? Americans Speak on High School Reform
Educational Testing Service, June 2005

Remaking Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century: What Role for High School Programs?
Jobs for the Future, April 2005

Holding High Hopes: How High Schools Respond to State Accountability Policies
Consortium for Policy Research in Education, March 2005

A Profile of the American High School Sophomore in 2002: Initial Results From the Base Year of the Longitudinals Study of 2002
National Center for Education Statistics, March 2005

America’s High Schools: The Front Line in the Battle of Our Economic Future
From the 2005 National Education Summit on High Schools, sponsored by the National Governors Association and Achieve, Inc., February 2005

On Course for Success: A Close Look at Selected High School Courses that Prepare All Students for College
By ACT and The Education Trust, February 2005

Rising to the Challenge: Are High School Graduates Prepared for College and Work?
Achieve, Inc., February 2005

Profiles in Leadership: Innovative Approaches to Transforming the American High School
A collection of essays published by the Alliance for Excellent Education, 2004

Legal Issues and Small High Schools: Strategies to Support Innovations in Washington State
Center on Reinventing Public Education, July 2004

12th Grade Student Achievement in America: A New Vision for NAEP
National Commission on NAEP 12th Grade Assessment and Reporting, March 2004

Every Child a Graduate: A Framework for an Excellent Education for all Middle and High School Students
Alliance for Excellent Education, September 2002

Ready for Tomorrow: Helping All Students Achieve Secondary and Postsecondary Success
National Governors Association, November 2003

Crisis or Possibility: Conversations About the American High School
National High School Alliance, May 2004

From the Prison Track to the College Track: Pathways to Postsecondary Success for Out-of-School Youth
Jobs for the Future, April 2004

All Over the Map: State Policies to Improve the High School
National High School Alliance, June 2002

State Policies to Facilitate the Preparedness of Students for Careers and Postsecondary Success
Power Point presentation from the National High School Alliance

Ready or Not: Creating a High School Diploma that Counts
Achieve, Inc., February 2004

Who Graduates? Who Doesn’t? A Statistical Portrait of Public High School Graduation, Class of 2001
The Urban Institute, February 2004

Breaking Ranks II: Strategies for Leading High School Reform
National Association of Secondary School Principals,
February 2004

Are California High Schools Ready for the 21st Century?
The Education Trust – West, 2004

High Time for High School Reform: Early Findings from the Evaluation of the National School District and Network Grants Program
A report from The American Institutes for Research and SRI International for The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation,
April 2003

Seizing the Day: Massachusetts’ At-Risk High School Students Speak Out on Their Experiences at the Front Lines of Education Reform
Mass Insight Education, October 2003

Betraying the College Dream: How Disconnected K-12 and Postsecondary Education Systems Undermine Student Aspirations
The Bridge Project, March 2003

State-Level Reporting of High School Outcomes and Post-Secondary Readiness Data
National Association of Systems Heads, August 2002

Student Readiness for College: Connecting State Policies
Southern Regional Education Board, May 2002

High School Academic Curriculum and the Persistence Path Through College
National Center for Education Statistics, April 2001

Youth at the Crossroads: Facing High School and Beyond
Thinking K-16 from The Education Trust, Winter 2001

Great Expectations: Reforming Urban High Schools
Council of the Great City Schools, October 2000

Opening Doors to the Future: Preparing Low-Achieving Middle Grades Students to Succeed in High School
Southern Regional Education Board, 2002

Overlooked and Underserved: Immigrant Students in U.S. Secondary Schools
The Urban Institute, December 2000

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